Coin separator



July 7, 1931. A. c. KIDWIELL COIN SEPARATOR p M" U K 2 M m y A. C. KIDWELL COIN SEPARATOR July 7, 1931.

7 Filed March 14 1927 2 Shegats-Sheet 2 1 1y designed for Patented y 7; 1931 ARTHUR 'c. KIDWELL; or HOUSTON, TEXAS coinv sErARA'roR Application filed March 14, 1927. Serial No. 175,148

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a coin separator.- I One object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described specialthe purpose" of separating coins, or tokens of different denominations and collecting similar coins together and de: positing them-in individual receptacles designed to receive them. i I v Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described which has been specially designed for use on street cars, and in banks and like places where coins of small denominations, and in large quantities must be handled and assorted and coins of like denominations collected together and separated from coins of other denominations. I V i lVith the above and other objects in view this invention has particular relation to certain-novel features of construction, operation and arrangement of parts an example of which is given in this specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where- 1I1 Figure-1 shows a plan view of the apparatus shown partly in section taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 2.

Figure 2 shows akvertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows, a fragmentaryhorizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig ure 2.

Figure 4 shows a top plan view of the coin selecting plate. 7

Figure 5 shows a bottom plan view thereof, showing the associated coin ej ectors.

- Figure 6 shows a fragmentary cross sec tional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 1.

Figure? shows a fragmentary edge View of said platelooking in the direction indicated by theline 7 7 of Figure 5, and

Figure 8 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view thereof taken on the line 88 of Figure 5.

the numeral 1 designates a box'like casing of the figures,

which has a transverse partition 2 therein which declines from the front to the rear of the casing and extends across from one side wall to the other. i The central portion of this partition is cut away leaving a circular opening Land the coin selecting plate-5 rides on the inner margin of the partition 2 and is positioned concentrically over the opening 4.

- Secured in the casing 1, opposite the lower end of the partition 2 thereis a supplemental 1 wall 6, whose inner side is arcuate, as at 7, said wall 6 and'pa'rtition 2 forming with the side walls of the casing 1, in effect, a-hopper 8 to'receive the coins to be separated. The apparatus herein described may disposed beneath a conventional coin receiver, or collector, as *9, such as now commonlyused on street cars, therein will pass on down into said hop-per V 8 of the separator. tor 9 forms no part of the invention andthe coins to be separated may be otherwise placed in the hopper 8. x l

Adjacent the upper and forward edge of the, partition 2 are a plurality of coin receivin-g hoppers 10' which depend from and whose upper ends are anchored to the upper edge of the partition 2, said edge of said partition having the openings 11 above the hopperslO. The hoppers 10 are enclosed by a housing. 12 which is suitably anchored to the casing 1 and which has the cessintothe interior of said housing. .Radial ribs 14:: areanchoredtothe upper edge of the partition 2and. are disposed in alternate relation with respect to the hoppers 10.and extend from the outer wall of the housing to the margin of the selecting plate 5, and fitted closely within the housing 1 and resting on the ribs 14 there is an arcuate, removable cover plate adjacent portion of the partition 2, thus forming guidesfor chutes, through which the respective coins must pass into the respective hoppers 10, as hereinafter explained. l Beneath-the respective hoppers are the coin receiving receptacles 16 provided to receive the coins. Eachgreceptacle 16 is provided.

for coins of a single denomination and the However the coin collecso that the coins dropped 7 :zpparatus shown has been designed for separating coins of all denominations less than the half dollar and including also the disclike tokens commonly used in paying street car fares. If the apparatus is not to be used on a street car it may be constriiicted to sepa rate only coins of the denominations of the cent, five cent piece, ten cent piece and twentyfive cent piece, as these are the coins that are in most common circulation in large quantities and are the most diiiicult to assert b hand.

The receptacles 16 may, if desired, 1 be formed together and. thus constitute a unit which may assembled with the coin separator and detached therefrom, as desired.

Anchored to the bottom of the casing 1 there is a bearing member 17, having a socket bearing 18 therein to receive the lower end of the shaft 19. This shaft is disposed at substantially right angles to the partition 2 and beneath said partition has a bevel gear wheel 20 fixed thereon. There is a crank shaft 21 which has a bearing in the side of the casing 1 and fixed on the inner end. thereof there is a beveled pinion 22 which in mesh with the bevel gear wheel 20. The outer end of the shaft 21 has a crank 23 by means of which said shaft 21 may be rotated. The upper end of the shaft 19has a square section 24, which fits through a correspondingly shaped. bearing 25 in the selector plate 5 so that said plate will rotate with said shaft and there is a circular dome like hood 26, concentric with. and disposed above the plate 5 and provided with a central bearing 27, formed to receive the upper end 24 of the shaft 19. A retaining nut 28 is threaded onto the outer end of the shaft section 24 to maintain the plate 5 and the hood 26, in assembled relation. The hood 26 is of a smaller diameter than the plate 5 and its margin fits closely against said plate, said hood being provided to prevent the coins from clinging to the collector plate, and being of such pitch as to insure the collection of all coins in the bottom of the hopper 8, so that they will come within range of the coin ejectors, as hereinafter described.

The selector plate 5 has the radial slots 29 cut therein whose outer ends are widened to provide the coin receiving notches or pockets 80. The slots 29 provide bearings for the radially movable ejectors 31 whose inner ends 32 are offset and bear against the underside of the plate and the underside of each ejector has a cross guide 33 near its outer end, whose ends projectout laterally beyond the ejector and bear against the underside of the plate 5. An ejector arm 34 is associated with each ejector and is pivoted, at one end, to the plate 5 and extends across the corresponding ejector underneath and works between the offset end 32 and the cross guide 33 thereof and retains said ejector in its bearing, 29. The other, or free, end of each arm 34 works through the corresponding guide 35 fastened to the underside of the plate 5 and whose outer end forms a stop 36 which limits the outward movement of the corresponding arm. Each arm 34. has an oblong slot 37 through which a stud 38, carried by the corresponding ejector, extends.

Attached to the posts 39, on which the arms 34 are pivoted, and coiled therearound, are the fiat springs 40 whose free ends are connected to the free ends of said arms, said springs being disposed to urge the. arms outwardly. The free end of each arm 34 has a downwardly projecting lug 41 adapted to engage one or another of the arcuate tracks 42. These tracks are fiHQCl to and upstand from the transverse track support 43 which is anchored in the casing 1 and against the underside of which the gear wheel 20 rides. These tracks are of substantially equal length and arranged in stepped relation, that is the lug engaging end. and release end, as hereinafter referred to, of eachv track is advanced relative to the corresponding ends of the next track out beyond it so that the lug 41, engaged by a track, will be released in advance of its release if engaged by a track located inside of said engaging track. The particular track which any lug engages will be determined by the distance the corresponding ejector 31 is retracted and this will be determined by the transverse diameter of the coin, or token through which said ejector is retracted.

The coins to be separated, or assorted, will fall, or be placed in quantities in the hopper 8 and will collect at the bottom of said hopper against the arcuate wall 7 The crank 23 will then be turned, operating to rotate the selector plate 5 as explained, in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1. The coins, as 44, wi ll drop into the pockets 30between the cuter ends of the cjectors 31 and the opposing wall 7 and will be carried around on the partition 2 into contact with the arcuate track 45 carried by the opposing side'of the casing 1. The track 45 curves inwardly on a slightly smaller arc than the normal are described by the outer ends of the ejeetors and is beveled inwardly, as shown in Figure 6,-to retain the coin therein, to the end that the correspond ing ejector is forced inwardly a distance depending on the diameter of the particular coin and its spring 40 placed under tension so that the corresponding lug 41 will engage behind the engaging end of the corresponding track 42. The ejector will thus be held retract-ed until. the lug 41 of its corresponding arm passes the releaseend of the engaged track and thereupon said arm and the associated ejector will be thrown outwardly and the engaged coin, or token will be ejected into the corresponding hopper 10 provided to receive it and will pass into the receptacle 16 underneath.

It is evident that coins of different dimeni the like, of diilerent denominations, includ-" @iri-ciaacn a and the release. endsofthese.tracksare so dis posed; asto release the lugs when the engage coinsaare opposite) the particular hoppers des gned to receive them. Co ns,,or tokens, of

the same denomination will retract the ejec-' tors; the same distanceto the-end that the sametrack 4Z2 willaretain ejectors holding similar coins and release them when said coins are. opposite the. same hopper 10,,so that simi lar coins will be, collected in the respective receptacles 16, g v v ,While the; apparatus as shown and described is adapted for use in assorting' coins of small denominations-it isto be understood that the principleinvolyedmay be as readily embodied ina n, apparatus adapted tor separatingand assortingcoin's orsi'milar tokens o iffan-y denominations. a What I'claim isz aw i I. An: apparatus f or assorting coins, and

ing a coin receptacle having-a plurality of coln discharge passageways, and means associated with said receptacle and adapted to select coins of difierent denominations and ali gn them with d' fi'erent passageways, coin "ejectors associated with the selector, means acting through the coin; for successively-retracting the ejectors, means fortemporarily retaining theretracted ejectors in retracted position and means for actuating the retracted' ej ectors when released by said retain ing means to permit themto eject the coins into the corresponding passageways; p 2. An: apparatus for asserting coins and the like, of different denominations including a coin receptacle having a plurality of coin discharge passageways, means working in said receptacles and adapted to engage with the coins therein and align the coinso-f the same denomination with the same passageway, said coin engaging means including' yieldably mounted ejectors, means arran ed to act through said coins to successive y retract the ejectors, means for temporarily retaining the retracted ejectors in retracted position and means acting through the retracted ejectors when released to eject the coins into the corresponding passageway. 3. An apparatus for asserting coins and the like, of different denominations, including a coin receptacle, coin receivers associated with said receptacle, each receiver being adapted to receive coins of the same denomination, there being passageways for the coins from the receptacle to the-respective receivers, means associated with the receptacle and adapted to select and deliver coins of the same denomination into the same passageway into the receiver provided to receive them, said selecting and delivering means including yieldably mounted ejectors, means through the. coinstoj retract said eject- ,ors, means for retaining said ejectors for a time in. retracted position, and means for toyeject the coins into said passageway.

4. An apparatus for separating and asserting coins, and the like, of different denominations, including acoinreceptacle havng a plural ty of coin discharge passageways, a movable coin selector therein adapted to engage and move the co ns 1nto al1gnment with said passageways, e ector means carried by the selector and adapted to discharge the co ns into, said passageways, means arranged to act through the c'o1ns to move the corre- SpOIlflll'lgBjGCtOl means into retracted orlnactive positions, and; means holding said e ector in inact ve, position while the, corresponding coin is'out of such alignment, said -n1ea-I1sbeing arrang d to release the e ectors in succession. e

5. An apparatus for separating and assortmg co ns and the like, of diilerent denominations includinga coin receptacle having a plura-llty of co n dlschargepassageways,

ajmqvable coin selector therein adapted to ngage and move the coin'sinto alignment actuating the, released ejectors and effective with said passageways including'yieldably mQuIitccl means operative to eject the selecte ed coins of the same denomination successively throughthe ,Sameg passageway, means actingithrough the coins for successively ren dering said ejecting-means operative.

6. An apparatus for separatingand assorting co ns, and the like, of different denominationsincluding a coin receptacle having a plurality of discharge passageways, one passageway-being provided for each denomination of the coins, a rotatable coin se-le ctor associated with the receptacle'and provided with coinreceiving pockets adapted to re- CQiVQ'lEhfl coins in the receptacle and successively. carry them into alignmentwith'the' respective passageways, and means for retaining the coins insaid pockets, while out oi?- suchalignment and for ejecting the coins from said pockets into said passageways, as the respective coins come into such alignment with the respective passageways, said'means including yieldably mounted rejectors and meansra'cting through the'coins for successively rendering said ejectors operative.

7. An apparatus tor distributing coins, and the like, of diii erent denominations including a coin receptacle having a plurality ofdischarge passageways, a rotatable coin selector associated, with the receptacle and having (30in receiving pockets adapted to receive the coins and align each with the passageway into which it is to be ejected and means for automatically ejecting each coin when ali nedwith its passageway, said ejecting means comprising yieldably mounted ejectors, means for engaging and retaining said ,ejectors temporarily inactive said retaining means being positioned to release the ejectors as the corresponding coins align with their respective passageways and means acting through the coins for retracting said ejector-s into position to engage with said retainin means.

8. A11 apparatus oi the character described including a coin receptacle having a plurali of discharge chutes, vided tor the pass: of coins of the same denomination there nrough, a rotatable coin selector associated with the receptacle and formed to engage the coins in the receptacle and carry them into aligitiment with the respective chutes provided for them and yieldably mounted ejectors, carried by the selector and arranged to be retracted by the coins into position for ejecting said coins into said passageways when so aligned.

9. An apparatus of the character described including a coin receptacle having a plurality of discharge chutes, each chute being provided for the passage of coins of the same denomination t-herethrough, a rotatable coin selector associated with the receptacle and formed to engage the coins in the receptacle and carry them into ali nment with the respective chutes provided for said coins, means for ejecting said coins when so aligned, said means including ejectors carried by the selector and aligned with the coins so retained, means acting through the respective coins for retracting the corresponding ejectors, means for retaining said ejectors in such retracted position, until the respective coins align with their corresponding chutes and then releasing them.

10. An apparatus of the character described including a coin receptacle having a plurality of discharge chutes, each chute being provided for the passage of coins of the same denomination therethrough, a rotatable coin selector associatedrwith the receptacle and provided with coin receiving pockets to receive and carry the coins into alignment with the respective chutes provided for them, ejectors carried by the selector and aligned with the pockets, means acting through the respective coins in said pockets to retract the corresponding ejectors, means for temporarily retaining the ejectors in retracted position and means for actuating the ejectors when released by said retaining means to permit them to act against and eject the corresponding coins.

11. An apparatus of the character described including a coin receptacle having a plurality of discharge chutes, each chute being provided for the passage of coins of the same denomination therethrough, a rotatable coin selector associated with the receptacle and provided with coin receiving pockets to receive and carry the coins into alignment with the respective chutes provided for them, ejcctors carried by the selector and aligned each chute being pro with the respective pockets, means acting through the respective coins in said pockets to retract the corresponding ejectors, retaining means adapted to engage the respective cjectors and retain them in retracted position i'elYlIXJlEll'ilY and then release said ejectors, and yieldabie means associated with the respective ejectors and adapted to actuate the ejectors when released by said retaining 7 means to permit the ejectors to act against and eject the corresponding coins.

12. An apparatus for assorting coins, and the like, of diiierent denominations, includ- 111. a coin rece tacle havin a coin dischar e a \D b b chute,

gage and move the coins successively into alignment with the corresponding chutes, ejectors associated with the selector, means actin through the coins to retract the respective ejectors, means for temporarily retaining the ejectors in retracted position, and means for actuating the ejectors when re leased by the corresponding retaining means to permit said ejectors to act against and eject the respective coins into their corresponding aligned chutes.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ARTHUR C. KIDWELL. 

